Beatings from the North

Monday, October 31, 2011

This is my 100th post on this blog and it could be the last one. But don't worry, if you like following Scandinavian MMA you can now do it even easier at MMAViking.com. Me and Ryan of MMAViking have decided to put our content together on one website that serves a very clear purpose: all about Scandinavian MMA in English on one site.

Thanks to everyone who has read my scribblings over the past three years and I hope you all follow me to the MMAViking.com.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Beforehand Cage 16's main event fights were seen as final tests for Finnish MMA stars Anton Kuivanen and Tom "Stoneface" Niinimäki who have been patiently waiting for their shot at the major leagues. The wait should be over as both fighters passed their test with flying colors.

In the extremely exciting main event fight hometown hero Anton Kuivanen (16-4) defended his Cage Lightweight belt against Blackhouse MMA's Thiago Meller (17-4) of Brazil. In the first round Kuivanen controlled the action with crisp striking and used his speed advantage to stay out of harms way. Near the end of the round Meller however caught Kuivanen with a overhand right that sent the Finn on floor. Kuivanen quickly recovered, but as he was working on his way up, Kuivanen ended up in Meller's guillotine choke. Kuivanen kept his calm and waited for the round to end. In the second round Kuivanen turned up the volume punishing fading Meller on the feet with fast strikes. With one minute left in the round Kuivanen connected with blazing combination that sent the Brazilian dazed against the cage. Kuivanen threw everything but the kitchen sink at Meller who absorbed an unbelievable amount of punishment refusing to give up. In the third round exhausted Meller caught Kuivanen once more in a guillotine choke that looked very tight but again Kuivanen did a marvelous job defending the choke, popped his head out and rained down elbows from the top position.

In the end Kuivanen kept his Cage lightweight belt with a lopsided unanimous decision. The Finnish striking machine has now won his last nine fights including wins over Ivan Buchinger (16-2) and Tim Radcliffe (11-4). Convincing win over a highly regarded veteran in Thiago Meller should be enough for Kuivanen to land a deal with a major promotion.

Number two featherweight in Europe Tom "Stoneface" Niinimäki returned to action after almost a year away from the cage. In the Cage featherweight title fight the defending champion showed no signs of ring rust as he crushed his French opponent Johnny Frachey in a little over minute. Frachey, a powerful grappler who had won his last five fights, was stunned by Niinimäki's beautiful headkick. Niinimäki quickly followed up with a shattering uppercut that sealed the deal and left Frachey unconscious on the floor.

Tom Niinimäki is a beast who has gone 6-0 at featherweight (Photo by Kulmassa.fi)

Since dropping down to featherweight Niinimäki (16-5) is still undefeated after six bouts winning them all in a dominating fashion. In the Euro circuit there are no meaningful fights left for the young Finn so the most reasonable next step for him would be signing with the UFC. Another option is the Bellator that has been lately signing a lot of Euro talent.

Also on the main card was the welterweight bout between Finnish grappler Olli-Jaakko Uitto and Sweden's Nicholas Musoke. In a quite uneventful fight Musoke won the decision as he was able to stuff Uitto's takedown attempts and got the better of the striking exchanges on the feet.

In the women's bout Finland's Katja Kankaanpää (5-0) kept her record clean by outgrappling Spain's Karla Benitez (5-1) to a decision win.

The main event of the night features once again hometown hero Anton Kuivanen who is the biggest draw in Finnish MMA and thus a vital fighter also for the Cage promotion. The young Finn is known for his flashy striking and entertaining fighting style. American Top Team’s Kuivanen has a great record of 15-4, but it’s getting even better all the time. He’s 11-1 in his last twelve with the only loss coming in the hands of Bendy Casimir in a fight that Kuivanen was clearly winning before getting caught in a knee bar. Since that loss the rapidly improving Finn has won all his fights in a dominating fashion and is currently riding a eight fight win streak that includes wins over top ranked Euro lightweights like Ivan Buchinger (16-2) and Tim Radcliffe (11-4). Kuivanen’s highly versatile and explosive striking is still his main weapon of choice but during the last couple of years he has managed to take his wrestling and ground game to another level also.

Like Kuivanen, also the Brazilian veteran Thiago “Minu” Meller is far from a one trick pony. Most of his wins have become via submission but Meller is competent on the feet too and has a record of 15-1 in Muay Thai. Meller has snatched eight of his eleven submission wins by guillotine choke. He hunts for his opponents head in the clinch, locks in the arm in guillotine, drops down on his back and applies the choke perfectly leaving his opponents no choice but to tap out. On the feet Meller’s best weapon are the vicious kicks he throws, thanks to his Muay Thai background. Meller is a gutsy and iron chinned fighter who has never been knocked out and submitted just once. His four career losses have become in the hands of top level talent like current UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo and UFC lightweight contender Rafael Dos Anjos.

Cage Featherweight title bout: Tom “Stoneface” Niinimäki (15-5-0) vs Johnny Frachey (13-8-0), France
Europe’s number two featherweight Tom Niinimäki finally returns to the cage after being almost a full year without an MMA fight. Notable challenger comes in a form of Frenchman Johnny Frachey who tries to give Niinimäki his first loss at Featherweight.

According to information that I’ve receiving, the reason for the layoff was mainly due to no one wanting to fight Niinimäki in the Euro circuit while for some reason major promotions didn’t sign him. During this time Niinimäki however kept himself busy by taking amateur boxing fights and competing at the 2011 FILA European Championships where the 27 year old Finn won gold in submission wrestling. Niinimäki is a complete fighter: technically solid boxing on the feet, powerful wrestling and takedowns coupled with airtight grappling and heavy ground and pound. Niinimäki is undefeated at featherweight and has been lately crushing highly touted fighters. In his last three fights Niinimäki has beaten Dutch Ben Boekee (13-1), UK’s Dave Hill (9-2) and Lithuanian submission ace Sergei Grecicho (10-4).

France’s Johnny Frachey is an experienced veteran who has been fighting since 2003 and faced world class opponents like David Baron, Luciano Azevedo and Mizuto Hirota during his long career. Frachey is a strong and technically sound grappler who has fought at Lightweight for the most part of his career. Frachey trains at his own gym that is located in Athis Mons. Frachey’s strong points are his quick takedowns combined with versatile skills on the ground. His striking isn’t weak by any means but in most cases short and stocky Frachey will try everything to take the fight to the floor. This will Frachey’s second fight in Finland. At the Helsinki Fight Night event in November 2009 he suffered a decision loss to Niko Puhakka in a lightweight bout. Frachey is currently on a five fight win streak but the level of competition that he has fought lately has been weak compared to Niinimäki’s recent opponents.

The Finn Olli-Jaakko Uitto has been defeated just once during his ten fight long pro career. Cage WW champion Ville Räsänen was able to stuff Uitto’s takedowns and outstrike him on the feet. In his other fights Uitto has forced the fight on the ground and finished most of his opponents by submission.

Nicholas Musoke fights out of Stockholm Shoot, the gym that also serves as a home for the UFC star Alexander Gustafson. While Musoke is competent on the feet, he is at his best on the ground. In his latest fight Musoke choked out Scottish Steven Ray (8-2) late in the first round with RNC and got a good win under his belt. Both Uitto and Musoke know their stuff on the ground and actively hunt for submissions so this fight could end up being an entertaining grappling fest.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Fight Festival 31 offered a long and entertainment night for the fight fans on the 1st of October at the Töölö Sports Hall in Helsinki, Finland. Even though most of the fights on the card went to distance, the night was filled with exciting back-n-forth battles between evenly matched fighters.

In the main event UFC veterans in Lucio Linhares and Kenny Robertson were hunting for their ticket back to the biggest show on the planet. Early in the round Robertson landed a heavy right on the jaw of Linhares but the Brazilian born Finn pressed forward with punches. Linhares was able to crack Robertson with couple shots of his own but the American countered with takedowns. In the closing seconds of the fighters round when the fighters broke off from a clinch situation, Robertson exploded with a spinning back fist that landed clean on Linhares and knock him out cold. A spectacular win for the high school teacher from Illinois whom we’ll probably see soon back in the UFC.

In the co-main event Finnish lightweight powerhouse Niko Puhakka take on Xtreme Couture’s very experienced John Gunderson. Gunderson started strong landing a quick combo and took Puhakka down where he was able the Finn’s back. Puhakka kept his calm and defended well. In the second round the momentum switched to Puhakka’s side who was able to get dominant position on the ground and land strikes. Puhakka also had Gunderson in a very tight looking anaconda choke but the American did an awesome job defending the choke. In the final round Puhakka was able to set the pace as Gunderson begun to fade away. After three rounds of grueling ground fighting, the judges awarded Puhakka with an unanimous decision. This was probably Puhakka’s biggest win ever so it’ll be interesting to see where his next fight will take place.

In the light heavyweight bout Finnish top prospect Marcus “Caveman” Vänttinen dominated France’s Malid Merak. Vänttinen was clearly the stronger fighter and took his opponent down easily from the clinch. On the ground the long limbed Frenchman quickly tried to apply a kimura on Vänttinen but the Finn tucked his hand deep and punished Merak for the rest of the round. In the second round Vänttinen again took his opponent down from the clinch and started raining down elbows and punches. Eventually Vänttinen moved to mount and hit Merak with couple of horrendous elbows that cut and possibly broke something in Merak’s face, leaving him no choice but to tap out. In the post fight interview Vänttinen announced that he has signed with the Bellator and will participate to promotion’s Light Heavyweight Tournament that starts in early 2012. Excellent news for the talented young Finn but also for the whole Finnish MMA scene that has had some trouble getting its top fighters to major promotions.

Finnish JP Vainikainen and American Steve Lopez fought a draw in an exciting lightweight bout. Lopez scored points early by taking Vainikainen down and spinning to his back but Vainikainen but the young Finn defended skillfully. In the second and third round Vainikainen was able to hit Lopez with heavy shots and the American was in survival mode for latter part of the fight. Few seconds left in the fight Lopez broke the rules by upkicking grounded Vainikainen from the bottom and received a yellow card from the ref. The fight was scored as a draw which was a bit controversial considering Lopez’s yellow card. After the fight Vainikainen's team issued an official protest about the decision. The protest was then processed by the Finnish MMA Federation's jury (five judges) who re-evaluated the fight under FMMAF rules. The jury decided that Vainikainen won the fight based on effective striking, aggression and the point deduction to Lopez.

Another controversial draw decision was ruled in the welterweight fight between Bellator signee Janne Tulirinta and France’s Sebastien Garguier. The fight was real slugfest where both fighters were landing heavy shots on the feet without backing up an inch. The Frenchman got the better of the striking exchange after Tulirinta, who had been sick the week before the fight, begun to gas out. The majority of the crowd seemed to think that Garguier won the fight but the judges thought otherwise and the fight was declared as a draw.

Finnish featherweight prospect Joni Salovaara extended his winning streak to seven consecutive wins by beating Jeremy Pender of USA. Salovaara got the better of the striking on the feet and scored numerous takedowns. In the third round Salovaara cracked Pender with a shattering shot and finished the job on the floor with strikes. Salovaara, currently at ranked 10th on the European Featherweight top ten, has improved by leaps and bounds during the last two years. It will be interesting to see if he gets matched up with a big name 145er for his next fight.